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One Woman's First-Year Relationship Revelations

What one woman learned about relationships after making it past the one-year mark.

I used to have an expiration date, like eggs or 2% milk. Nine months was my limit; nine months of dating and then a guy gave me my walking papers. But tomorrow will be one year since my boyfriend and I met each other at a birthday party and sometime in the next couple of weeks, we will have been dating for one year. The Frisky: 25 Things Women (Maybe) Don't Know About Men

This whole experience has definitely been weird for me: I'd been single for the past two years and now I share a sock drawer and a toothbrush holder with someone. I've been thinking a lot lately about how much things have changed in the last year:

1.Relationships are hard. The other serious relationships that I had before David were pretty brief: one was nine months and one was six months. Those experiences gave me an inkling that relationships were hard work, but not like this relationship does. I think that knowing I'm in it for the long haul makes me work harder at resolving our differences and making sure we're both happy. That's an amazing driving force, but, well, it's not always fun times. I definitely have a new-found respect for those cute old couples 50 years deep. The Frisky: 8 Ways To Deal With Jealousy

2. The only two people who really know what a relationship is like are the ones who are in it. There are times when we get irritated with each other in front of friends and I think, 'Oh, man, they're going to think we have a bad relationship, even though we're really happy!' Or there are times friends will say they're jealous of me, or of us, and I think, 'Well, just because I don't tell you about arguments doesn't mean they don't happen.' I realize now that no one else really knows what goes on between two people or how intense the love that they share is. The Frisky: Five Ways Not To Argue

3.I've learned to let the unimportant things go. If I got angry at David every time he put a wet bath towel on our bed, we would be miserable with each other. I've had to teach myself that in the grand scheme of things, I can live with wet bath towels on the bed. In high school, I scribbled a quote from a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald on my bedroom walls: "Very few things matter and nothing matters very much." Now I finally understand what that Zen-like saying actually means. The Frisky: MERRIme, A New Web Comedy About Online Dating

11. Cameron and Mitchell, Modern Family

Cameron and Mitchell are the absolute cutest, whether they're revisiting Cam's clown past or bickering over Mitchell being uptight. Their relationship is both hilarious and realistic, and their sassy daughter Lily just completes it. They're everything.

ABC

10. Piper and Alex, Orange Is The New Black

You know it's love when you're constantly getting roped into various dramas involving heroin, jailtime and horrific eyebrows just to be together.

Netflix

9. Arizona and Callie, Grey's Anatomy

Arizona and Callie were cute on Grey's Anatomy, even rocking their own distinctly styled gorgeous dresses at their wedding. But it's Grey's Anatomy and it's been on TV for way too long, so of course they couldn't just stay together and be happy. How else can they continue any storylines at this point? (Seriously guys, pull the plug on this show. When people begin to miss or agree with Katherine Heigl, it's time to take it out to pasture.)

ABC

8. Kalinda and Lana, The Good Wife

Bisexual master manipulator Kalinda Sharma can pretty much have her way with anyone she wants on The Good Wife, and then she'll use them however she wishes. While her relationship with Cary Agos is the most tragically romantic of sorts, her chemistry with FBI agent Lana Delaney is the hottest of any couple ever on the series.

CBS

7. Kurt and Blaine ("Klaine"), Glee

I don't want to spend too much time on this because I have an irrational hatred for this stupid show, but know this: Kurt and Blaine's romance gave us Glee's spectacular cover of "Teenage Dream," and for that we should all be thankful (except Katy Perry, who should be ashamed, because, well, her version is awful in comparison).

FOX

6. Alex Kelly and Marissa Cooper, The OC

Bad girl Alex Kelly and sort-of-good-girl Marissa Cooper got together after pretending to be dating to get Alex's psycho ex-girlfriend away. They later moved into together before ultimately splitting. Also, their first kiss was partially responsible for a lot of millennial guys' crusty socks. Just saying.

FOX

5. Emily and Maya ("Emaya"), Pretty Little Liars

Bisexual Maya and lesbian Emily have gone through a lot: Maya got sent to rehab for pot (remember, it's an ABC Family show), Emily's parents weren't accepting of their sexuality ... then they finally confirmed their total and undying love for one another and, like David Fisher and Keith Charles, lived happily ever after until one of them ended up dead. Yikes.

ABC Family

4. David Fisher and Keith Charles, Six Feet Under

After a long on-again off-again romance, David Fisher and Keith Charles of Six Feet Under finally come to terms with their own identities as well as with their love for one another, get married and adopt two sons. They live happily ever after ... until Keith gets murdered, but hey, shit happens.

HBO

3. Tara Maclay and Willow Rosenberg, Buffy

When Willow revealed to Buffy that she had feelings for Tara, she avoided labeling herself and just said she was falling in love with her. As their relationship blossomed, so did Willow's magical powers. That's a pretty good incentive for romance.

IMDB

2. Chris Keller and Tobias Beecher, Oz

Before he was chasing pervs and perps on Law & Order: SVU, Christopher Meloni starred as an imprisoned psychopathic killer named Chris Keller on Oz. Keller planned to manipulate fellow (and much less harmful) convict Tobias Beecher, but actually ended up falling in love with him. Aw.

HBO

1. Aaron and Eric, The Walking Dead

Aaron and Eric will do anything for one another, and their relationship has a lot of romantic parallels with Glenn and Maggie's. The only real difference is that Aaron and Eric both pee standing up (and that Rick doesn't really trust them).

AMC

Cameron and Mitchell are the absolute cutest, whether they're revisiting Cam's clown past or bickering over Mitchell being uptight. Their relationship is both hilarious and realistic, and their sassy daughter Lily just completes it. They're everything.